Paul Boudwin Fired By Bank Of America Over Denny's Omelet Dispute

A wealth manager at Bank of America told the Houston Chronicle that he was fired by the bank over an omelet dispute at Denny's in 1998. But Paul Boudwin isn't letting this go over easy. He's suing the banking giant, reports the paper.

The bank's background check in July 2011 of Boudwin, a Houston-based rising star headed for a big bonus at BofA, revealed an apparent conviction for skipping out on a restaurant check in college. The find disqualified him from his job, the bank told him, according to the Chronicle. (h/t Consumerist)

Only Boudwin, 35, says the incident was a misunderstanding with a friend, in which one assumed that the other had paid the $20 tab. Officers arrested the two but the charges were dismissed, he explained in the article.

Friends on his Facebook page voiced support for Boudwin, with one commenting, "As you know, the process has more chances of being a marathon than a sprint. If you haven't done it already, release it emotionally and let your lawyers do the heavy lifting."

When public distrust of banks soared amid the financial crisis, institutions imposed tougher standards in 2011 that enabled them to remove employees with prior convictions for mortgage fraud and other sensitive crimes. But banks are going beyond that to protect themselves from big fines, reported USA Today.

The tough new policies claimed Yolanda Quesada, a Wells Fargo customer service rep who was canned earlier this year for a 40-year-old shoplifting offense. And a Des Moines employee of the bank was let go in August because he used a cardboard cutout of a dime in a coin-operated washing machine. In 1963.

Now Boudwin says he's the latest victim. He provided BofA with proof of his case's dismissal and the bank even initiated an appeal so the FDIC would allow him to keep working while it investigated, the Chronicle said of the suit. But the FDIC's response took so long that the bank eventually fired him. When the FDIC came through with a work waiver weeks later, Boudwin claimed BofA did not offer him his job back. The bank told him he could reapply for his job -- but without backpay, bonus and seniority. The bank declined comment to the paper.

For the record, Boudwin and his pal paid the $20 omelet tab plus a fine for their once-alleged dine-and-dash, the Chronicle wrote. It is BofA, the paper said, "that has egg on its face."